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hammock not the best in Pasayten Wilderness, North Cascades, WA

The weekend of August 2-3 my dog and I hiked north from the North Cascades Highway to Devils Park and the southwest side of Jackita Ridge in the Pasayten Wilderness. The mosquitoes were terrible in McMillan Park which is a relatively flat subalpine plateau pocked by streams, bogs and riparian areas.

It was about 60 degrees and partly cloudy at Devil's Park. Winds kept most of the mosquitoes away. It would've been nice to hang the Hennessy Backpacker A-sym at Devil's Park then dayhike out but I was worried the bugs would eat my hiking buddy Crazy J the German wirehaired pointer alive. So we pushed on higher toward Jackita Ridge to find a camp semi-exposed to the wind to keep the bugs away. The subalpine wildflowers were amazing!

We topped out at an alpine ridge. No more mosquitoes but the winds were gusty at times. It was getting a little chilly too. We had to find a place to camp with trees to hang the hammock but it looked pretty thin up here.

We pushed on but ended up at an even higher pass but the trail switchbacked steeply down into a basin with a huge avalance chute, a creek and subalpine forest with larch trees that looked like they could handle a hammock.

We bushwhacked down into the avalanche chute, watered-up then found a place to pitch the hammock. It was about 50 degrees with breezes as the sun dropped. Camp was at about 6000 feet.

After the sun dropped down over the mountains to the west on the east boundary of North Cascades National Park the temperature dropped quickly. Crazy J doesn't like cold and started to act like a shivering wuss. I don't have an underquilt for the HH. From past experience, it seems the HH isn't warm enough below 40 degrees. There was still a breeze. So, I conceded defeat to the elements, found a small, relatively flat area and pitched the stock HH sil-nylon tarp about 2 feet from the ground and used the hammock itself as a groundsheet.

I had to be really careful using the hammock as a groundsheet, fearing a stick or rock would tear the netting. Crazy J cozied up to me and we feel asleep...kinda'. Sleeping on the ground after hammocking most of the time for the last 2 summers was kind of lame. It would've been better if the Big Agnes REM Air Core mattress did not gradually lose air. The stock HH sil-nylon tarp began to sag with dew dripping down on my unprotected down bag. I had to get up in the middle of the night and find a stick to prop up one corner of the tarp. It helped but did not solve the sag and dew drip. Oh well. On one hand I wished I would've stayed in the HH. On the other hand, I hate the thought of Crazy J shivering all night below me in the HH even though he has a RidgeRest, a fleece blanket and a wool sweater.

The sun came up early at 5:30 am and we awoke to this awesome view with fog in the deep wilderness valley.

It was chilly during breakfast with Crazy J still acting like a wimp.

About 1/2 mile up from our camp was a small snowfield on the west side of Pk 7248. When I stepped on it it was a little crunchy and icy so the temps must've dropped down to or near freezing. It was a little too chilly for the HH after all. I have to look into an underquilt.

On the way out we cross country hiked on a faint game trail to the top of Pk 7248. Wow!!

The hike out was great. The bugs weren't as bad on the way out as on the way in. We hiked about 18 miles round trip with about a 5000 foot elevation gain/loss each way. (Man, am I getting sick of doing 4000+ foot gain/losses on every hike. But that's the North Cascades for ya'). There's a more detailed trip report with more photos at http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewt...hlight=jackita.

Last edited by hikingjer; 08-14-2008 at 09:05.
Reason: line break in between pics

Crazy J the wuss(great looking dog)....Man, gotta luv that pic with the hat!

oh yea, and the mtn landscape is awesome too!

Thanks for the pick-me-up

"Every day is a new day to a better future" "Of all the things that matter, that really and truly matter, working more efficiently and getting more done is not among them." ~ Mike Dooley"What if I told you that you couldn't have anymore of anything... No more friends, no more money, no more anything, until you first got happy with what you have?"~ Mike Dooley"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." ~ Socrates

You just had a "One Dog Night"! Remember the band, Three Dog Night? They were named after the Aboriginal trick of having dogs sleep on top of you for warmth when out hunting. A three dog night was real cold. Now that I think about it, in actuality, Crazy J had a "One Man Night".

Hey great pics! Isn't the Northwest beautiful. We were planning on summiting Mt Adams this weekend with some ground dwellers and were going to be camping in a spot with fewer trees. They were concerned that we wouldn't be able to hang the hammocks, but I have not had a problem yet. Guess I'll have to wait to see how the claytor does on the ground because we're going to Jefferson Park instead. I couldn't get the right days off. Jeff. Park is beautiful and we won't have trouble hanging. I'll post pics when I get back on Tues.

So does Crazy J sleep in the hammock with you or on the ground. I'm always trying to figure out better methods for myself and my shiba inu,Rusty. He's usually content to sleep with me if he's tired. But shibas are not lap dogs or anything, he likes his space. He leaves the cuddling on the couch to the basset hound that's been staying with us.

You just had a "One Dog Night"! Remember the band, Three Dog Night? They were named after the Aboriginal trick of having dogs sleep on top of you for warmth when out hunting. A three dog night was real cold. Now that I think about it, in actuality, Crazy J had a "One Man Night".

thought it was the Inuit (spelling) Alaska natives that came up with that and handed it down through the years up there.

Now that I think about it, in actuality, Crazy J had a "One Man Night".

Yes yes, he did. I kept him warm, not the other way around. He prefers a "One Woman-One Man Night" when my wife is along. He's a pretty good upland bird hunting dog and he can hike & scramble like a mountain goat but when it comes to cold he's a big, wussified baby. Unlike the Australian shepherd that will curl up in 30 degree dirt, throw his bushy tail over his nose and doze off to sleep as long as its a dry cold. Cattle dogs tend to be tough.

Will your dog actually wear that hat?

Man, gotta luv that pic with the hat!

the pic of CJ with the hat is priceless!

It's actually a sweater with a hood. The hood doesn't stay on his head very well. Those pics are a little staged. The hood falls off his head quickly without human assistance.

Here's the best pic of him with that funny looking sweater from the bad, old ground dwelling days.

...wish the mountains here in KY looked like that.

Rigidpsycho, if it's any consolation the high country hiking season in mountains is only from mid/late July to mid-September. Just 2-3 months a year. The rest of the year the weather usually sucks. It's rainy, dreary and overcast for like 5 days a week from late October through April. Then there's the avalanches to contend with. We also keep having these "100 year floods" every few years that washout a lot of the trails and old logging roads that access the trails (especially around Glacier Peak). Plane tickets to Portland or Seattle can be cheap if you buy them in advance.

I grew up in northern Virginia and Baltimore-Annapolis area. Boy, do I miss the central Appalachians every May and October!

What is the pot support you have there for your trangia?

That's just the stock pot support.

So does Crazy J sleep in the hammock with you or on the ground...But shibas are not lap dogs or anything, he likes his space. He leaves the cuddling on the couch to the basset hound that's been staying with us.

When I had the Crazy Creek Lex Crib he used to jump up in the hammock, curl up and sleep under my knees. It felt solid. But, I sold that hammock because it was too heavy and no need for 3 hammocks when the Pacific Northwest hammock season is only about 3-4 months long.

The HH BPer A-sym is too small for a dog. He sticks his head up in the bottom slit and wants to get in but there's not enough space and it's only rated for 200 lbs. I'm 165 lbs. and he's 70 so we'd exceed the weight limit.

I bought an ENO Double Nest rated to 400 lbs. He hops right up on it but the nylon looks pretty thin and wimpy for dog claws. He spun over the other side when he jumped in. So, now he just sleeps underneath the ENO Doublenest. We'll see. Maybe I can work up a strategy to get him in the Doublenest yet not damage it? If something goes "bump in the night" and he alerts there could be problems.

You shouldn't have any problem finding trees near Jefferson Park to hang. Last July, I hung the Crazy Creek Lex crib in a clump of old growth subalpine fir near Stilletto Peak near the boundary of North Cascades National Park. Here was the view from my hammock campsite.

BTW, Oregon is a good state to be a hanger. With the Coast Range, Siskiyous, most of the High Cascades, Old Cascades and the Blues have many good hanging trees.

Wish I could've got the hammock in this frame but just wasn't happening.

Great trip report Hikingjer, that dog of yours is awesome, the dog that hikes with me and my buddy looks about like that everytime it gets cold, she puts her sad face on, we throw on a vest and she usually fairs a little better. The Cascades are beautiful, looks like you guys had a blast.

[....] Our remnants of wilderness will yield bigger values to the nation's character and health than they will to its pocketbook, and to destroy them will be to admit that the latter are the only values that interest us.